A Hometown Gone, A New Home Awaits

Friday • September 2, 2005

Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a proud native of Mississippi and its Gulf coast. He waited through anxious days to hear news of his parents and relatives, who had remained in Biloxi throughout Hurricane Katrina. Thankfully, they survived. Their homes did not.
How does one deal with the virtual disappearance of one’s hometown? Russ has written a moving first-person reflection, “Christ, Katrina, and My Hometown.” Read the entire article, but look carefully at his conclusion:My hometown isn’t there anymore. But, then again, it never really was. The hope after Katrina is not for civil defense and architectural rebuilding. It is for Biloxi, Miss., and all of the created universe, to be redeemed and restored in Christ. There will come a day when the curse is reversed, and the Gulf Coast along with the entire cosmos fully reflects the glory of a resurrected Messiah. And John sees in his vision that, on that day, “the sea was no more” (Revelation 21:1). He also sees that in the Holy City, “nothing unclean will ever enter it” (Revelation 21:27).That includes the curse of Eden and all of its children: including a hurricane named Katrina. On that day, and not until then, nothing will ever threaten the New Jerusalem, our hometown.